Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090131015 | Determining Authentication Challenge Timing and Type - An apparatus and methods are disclosed for authenticating users of wireless telecommunications terminals. In particular, the present invention enables the timing and type of authentication challenges to vary based on one or more of: the user's current geo-location, the current day and time, the presence or absence of other nearby users, and the identity of any nearby users. In accordance with the illustrative embodiment, the re-authentication time period (i.e., the length of time between authenticating and re authenticating a user) and the authentication challenge type (e.g., username/password, fingerprint recognition, etc.) can be determined based on these factors. The present invention is advantageous in that it enables the shortening of the re-authentication time and the selection of a more secure type of authentication challenge when it is more likely that a user's wireless telecommunications terminal might be accidentally left behind or stolen. | 05-21-2009 |
20090133106 | Authentication Frequency And Challenge Type Based On Environmental And Physiological Properties - An apparatus and method are disclosed for determining authentication frequency (i.e., the length of time between authenticating and re-authenticating a user) and challenge type (e.g., username/password, fingerprint recognition, voice recognition, etc.) based on one or more environmental properties (e.g., ambient noise level, ambient luminosity, temperature, etc.), or one or more physiological properties of a user (e.g., heart rate, blood pressure, etc.), or both. Advantageously, the illustrative embodiment enables authentication frequency and challenge type to be adjusted based on the likelihood of malicious activity, as inferred from these properties. In addition, the illustrative embodiment enables the authentication challenge type to be tailored to particular environmental conditions (e.g., noisy environments, dark environments, etc.). | 05-21-2009 |
20090133117 | Authentication Frequency And Challenge Type Based On Application Usage - An apparatus and method are disclosed for determining authentication frequency (i.e., the length of time between authenticating and re-authenticating a user) and challenge type (e.g., username/password, fingerprint recognition, voice recognition, etc.) based on what software applications a user is running on a data-processing system, and how those applications are being used (e.g., what functions are used, what data is input to or output by the application, how often and for how long applications are used, what input devices and output devices are used, etc.) Advantageously, the illustrative embodiment enables authentication frequency and challenge type to be adjusted based on the likelihood of malicious activity and/or the potential cost of malicious activity, as inferred from current and past application usage. In addition, the illustrative embodiment enables selection of an authentication challenge type that is less intrusive to a user based on current application usage. | 05-21-2009 |
20100048123 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ENERGY EFFICIENT AIR COOLING, EXCHANGE AND CIRCULATION - An airflow management device is described that assists air cooling, exchange, and circulation of interior spaces by creating inward and outward airflow through a window opening. The device measures temperatures outside and inside a room, and determines when to exhaust warmer ceiling air and to draw cooler outside air. The exhaust component of the device captures warmer air at a higher level of the room and exhausts it through a window opening at a lower level. The intake component of the device draws cooler outside air through the window opening and discharges it into the room at a lower level than exhaust inflow. By expelling air from a high level and drawing it at a lower level, the room vertical temperature gradient is maintained thus optimizing cooling effectiveness. By microcontroller regulation of inflow and outflow, air pressure equilibrium between outside and inside is maintained thus maximizing airflow efficiency. | 02-25-2010 |
20100082342 | Method of Retaining a Media Stream without Its Private Audio Content - A method is disclosed that enables the handling of audio streams for segments in the audio that might contain private information, in a way that is more straightforward than in some techniques in the prior art. The data-processing system of the illustrative embodiment receives a media stream that comprises an audio stream, possibly in addition to other types of media such as video. The audio stream comprises audio content, some of which can be private in nature. Once it receives the data, the data-processing system then analyzes the audio stream for private audio content by using one or more techniques that involve looking for private information as well as non-private information. As a result of the analysis, the data-processing system omits the private audio content from the resulting stream that contains the processed audio. | 04-01-2010 |
20100303224 | Assisting Contact Center Agents and Customers - A method of receiving a call from a first caller that is requesting for assistance with a product. Once the call center receives the call, a call-processing switch routes the first caller to a first agent. Once the caller is routed to the first agent, a first message is transmitted to both the first caller's terminal and the first agent's terminal. After the first message is presented to the first caller and the first agent, the call-processing switch will monitor the communications stream for distress. During monitoring of the communications stream, the call-processing switch will estimate whether a level of distress is present in the communications stream. If it is estimated by the call-processing switch that there is distress present in the communications stream, the call-processing switch will transmit a second message to the first caller's terminal and the first agent's terminal. | 12-02-2010 |
20110144985 | Method for Transporting Low-Bit Rate Information - A method is presented that uses steganographic codeword(s) carried in a speech payload in such a way that (i) the steganographic codeword(s) survive compression and/or transcoding as the payload travels from a transmitter to a receiver across at least one diverse network, and (ii) the embedded steganographic codeword(s) do not degrade the perceived voice quality of the received signal below an acceptable level. The steganographic codewords are combined with a speech payload by summing the amplitude of a steganographic codeword to the amplitude of the speech payload at a relatively low steganographic-to-speech bit rate. Advantageously, the illustrative embodiment of the present invention enables (i) steganographic codewords to be decoded by a compliant receiver and applied accordingly, and (ii) legacy or non-compliant receivers to play the received speech payload with resultant voice quality that is acceptable to listeners even though the steganographic codeword(s) remain in the received speech payload. | 06-16-2011 |
20110242345 | Method and apparatus for providing picture privacy in video - The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing picture privacy in video. The method includes separating, by the processor, pixels of a first type from pixels of a second type in a current gray-scale frame based on a decision threshold, where each of the pixels of the first and second types includes an image pixel value, and applying, by the processor, a privacy filter to the pixels of the first type. The privacy filter is configured to randomly swap the image pixel values within a pixel area to occur at different locations in the pixel area. The method further includes combining, by the processor, the filter pixels of the first type with the pixels of the second type. | 10-06-2011 |
20130259228 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTHENTICATING VIDEO CONTENT - A method for authenticating video content includes: receiving a digital signature, an unsecured video fingerprint, and an unsecured video content from a transmitting node at a receiving node in a communication network; determining if the digital signature is consistent with the unsecured video fingerprint at the receiving node to verify the unsecured video fingerprint; and determining if the unsecured video fingerprint is consistent with the unsecured video content at the receiving node to verify the unsecured video content in a manner that tolerates a predetermined measure of loss in the unsecured video content. If the unsecured video fingerprint and the unsecured video content are verified, the unsecured video content is authenticated for subsequent use at the receiving node. A receiving node associated with the method includes an input module, a fingerprint verification module, a content verification module, and a controller module. | 10-03-2013 |